Title: The Victor
Author: quothme
Rating: M
Genre: Drama/Angst
Status: WIP
Fandom: Hunger Games
Pairings: Peeta/Katniss
Summary: There's a legend in District 12, passed down through the years, that tells of a lost soul, a miner who turned left when his brethren turned right. They call him the Blind Man. No longer alive, but unable to die. Dark AU.

Went on a massive Hunger Games reading binge last year because Tehlaziboi is a prickface. Probably in the top 3 for best stories in the fandom, easily. The main change is that Katniss wasn't reaped along with Peeta, and he returned the sole Victor. A ton of mystery surrounds the circumstances and it's very fun trying to figure out what is truly going on, and what has truly happened.

I've been following this story for awhile now, and I really enjoy it. The writing is great, and I'm really curious as to the truth about Peeta.

I kind of assume that Peeta didn't kill anyone, and the Capital did not like that at all. When Katniss says something along the same lines to Peeta, and he responds with, 'nope I did': I really want it to be that Peeta just snapped, rather than him lying to Katniss. I feel like every fic that focuses on Peeta always has him as the kill-less victor, etc.

I also really like the fact that Peeta seems to be set to play a similar role to what Haymitch did in canon, albeit younger and less drunk. I'd forgotten that Prim and Rory could still be reaped, and the minute they mentioned the Reaping in the last chapter I knew Prim was going to be reaped; I was surprised, however, by Rory volunteering as well. Just didn't think about it, I guess. It's going to be very interesting to see what things Peeta can come up with, and whether it matches the level of brilliance that Haymitch seemed to have shown during the 74th

I'd say a 4.5/5 rounded up, based off what I've seen so far.

Freedom is a word long forgotten, an idea with no following in the world. Deep within the wilds of an undignified wasteland is a boy who dreamed of something bigger. A boy who dreamed of Revolution. AU

The rest of the fic after I last posted was somewhat of a disappointment. Lots of telling rather than showing. End was certainly interesting, but felt abrupt and left much to be desired in my opinion. Fell prey to what many HG fics do, where the world is so interesting and nuanced yet the author lacks the talent, wherewithal, or both to do it proper justice.

I thought the most interesting part was Peeta basically being Haymitch, and the last chapters basically took away all of that. Definitely felt rushed, like Inert said.

Solid story, but 3/5 for the way it ended.

Freedom is a word long forgotten, an idea with no following in the world. Deep within the wilds of an undignified wasteland is a boy who dreamed of something bigger. A boy who dreamed of Revolution. AU

I agree with you, Inert. The ending felt incredibly abrupt and rushed, and I couldn't help but wonder if the author had grown tired of this particular idea.

One thing I didn't really understand was the nature of Gale and Katniss' goodbye in the final chapter. If this was following canon, then this would perhaps be something that could possibly happen -- but in this story, Katniss made it clear very early on that she didn't like Gale in that way, and didn't see any sort of future with him. The kiss just didn't sit right with me and I felt it didn't make a whole lot of sense for Katniss to allow it. Not in this setting.

Also, perhaps a bigger problem -- I'm not sure if Katniss could ever forgive Peeta's role in Prim's death. In the books, she can barely think of Gale because of his involvement in creating the bombs that ultimately took her life. Here, Peeta's broadcast guaranteed her death. Logically thinking, sure, Prim was probably already as good as dead -- and even if she survived, we all know what happened to Peeta as a Victor. Death would probably be the better option. Thing is, Katniss does not think logically where Prim is concerned and I just don't believe she could forgive him for his role, fair or not.